Entertainment industry obituaries

Schickele created the fictional character P.D.Q. Bach, "the only forgotten son of the Bach family," and between 1965 and 2007 released 17 albums of P.D.Q. Bach's humorous compositions such as 1712 Overture, Lip My Reeds, Fanfare For The Common Cold and The Only Piece Ever Written For Violin & Tuba. Four of the albums (1990-91-92-93) won Grammy awards for best comedy recording. Schikele also composed the score for the 1972 Bruce Dern movie Silent Running and co-wrote the title song.

Peter Schickele, 'P.D.Q. Bach' parodist and film/Broadway composer, dies at 88

https://deadline.com/2024/01/peter-s...ry-1235795823/

Shaw released 15 studio albums and two live albums. Among her best-known songs are California Soul, Go Away Little Boy, Mercy Mercy Mercy, Pictures & Memories and It's Better Than Walkin' Out.

R&B and jazz legend Marlena Shaw dies at 81

https://www.soultracks.com/story-marlena-shaw-dies

The Shangri-Las formed in 1963 in Queens, New York. In September 1964, they reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 with Remember (Walkin' In The Sand). Two months later, Leader Of The Pack went to number one. Among their other hits are Long Live Our Love, Give Us Your Blessings, Give Him A Great Big Kiss and I Can Never Go Home Anymore.

Mary Weiss, lead singer of the Shangri-Las, dies at 75

https://pitchfork.com/news/mary-weis...as-dies-at-75/

Jewison directed 24 movies including Fiddler On The Roof, Jesus Christ Superstar, Agnes Of God, The Cincinnati Kid, The Thomas Crown Affair, Send Me No Flowers and The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming. He won 12 Academy Awards and 12 Golden Globe awards.

Norman Jewison, director of Moonstruck and In The Heat Of The Night, dies at 97

https://variety.com/2024/film/obitua...ht-1235882301/

Graham played Detective Matthew Sikes in 22 episodes of Alien Nation (1989-90) and five Alien Nation TV movies and appeared in 44 episodes of the YouTube series The Jace Hall Show (2008-12).

Gary Graham, star of Alien Nation, dies at 73
He also appeared in several Star Trek properties and in such films as Hardcore and All The Right Moves.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv...on-1235804804/

Charles Osgood Wood III hosted CBS News Sunday Morning from April 1994 to September 2016. From 1971 through 2017, he hosted The Osgood File, a weekday series of three-minute commentaries heard nationwide on CBS News Radio stations.

Charles Osgood, longtime CBS News Sunday Morning anchor and radio host, dead at 91

https://nypost.com/2024/01/23/entert...o-host-was-91/

Farian co-wrote Boney M.'s Daddy Cool, La Bouche's Be My Lover, No Mercy's Please Don't Go and Milli Vanilli's All Or Nothing, Girl I'm Gonna Miss You and Baby Don't Forget My Number.

Frank Farian, Boney M. and Milli Vanilli founder, dies at 82
The controversial German producer also worked with Meat Loaf and Stevie Wonder.

https://pitchfork.com/news/frank-far...er-dies-at-82/

Melanie, backed by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, reached #6 on the Hot 100 in July 1970 with Lay Down (Candles In The Rain). In December 1971, she had a number-one hit with Brand New Key. Among her other hits are Bitter Bad, The Nickel Song, Ring The Living Bell and Peace Will Come (According To Plan).

Melanie, Brand New Key singer-songwriter and Woodstock favorite, dies at 76

https://deadline.com/2024/01/melanie-dead-1235803995/

Rivera made her Broadway debut in 1950 as a dancer in Guys & Dolls. She originated the roles of Anita in West Side Story (1957), Rose Alvarez in Bye Bye Birdie (1960) and Velma Kelly in Chicago (1975). In 2018 she was honored with a Tony award for lifetime achievement in theatre.

Chita Rivera, Tony-winning Broadway star, dead at 91

https://people.com/chita-rivera-dead...y-star-7971697

In addition to his many starring roles on Broadway, Battle played Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story, a 2001 episode of The Wonderful World Of Disney.

Hinton Battle, three-time Tony award winner and original scarecrow in The Wiz, dies at 67

https://www.broadway.com/buzz/203727...iz-dies-at-67/

Weathers played Apollo Creed in four Rocky Movies and golf instructor Chubbs Peterson in Happy Gilmore (1996). He starred in Action Jackson (1988) and voiced Combat Carl in Toy Story 4 (2019).

Carl Weathers, linebacker-turned-actor who starred in Rocky movies and The Mandalorian, dies at 76

https://apnews.com/article/carl-weat...9f9c25a28b1198

MC5 – MC stood for "Motor City" – formed in 1963 in Lincoln City, Michigan, and reached #82 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1969 with Kick Out The Jams. It was the title track of a live album recorded at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit. The album got to #30 on the Top LP's chart in May 1969. Among MC5's other well-known songs are Teenage Lust, Shakin' Street, Sister Annie and I Can Only Give You Everything. Kramer formed a new MC5 group in 2022. He was the only original member.

Wayne Kramer, co-founder of revolutionary rock band the MC5, dead at 75

https://www.usnews.com/news/entertai...mc5-dead-at-75

Murray played Earl Corey in 26 episodes of The Outcasts (1968-69) and Sid Fairgate in 34 episodes of Knots Landing (1979-81). He appeared in 59 movies and TV movies including Kid Rodelo, Endless Love, One Foot In Hell, Thursday's Child, License To Kill, The Plainsman, The Stepford Children, Baby The Rain Must Fall and Peggy Sue Got Married.

Don Murray, Oscar-nominated star of Bus Stop, dies at 94

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...op-1235813848/

Toby Keith had 37 top-ten country hits and 20 number ones including My List, I Wanna Talk About Me, Should've Been A Cowboy, I Love This Bar, Whiskey Girl, American Soldier, As Good As I Once Was and How Do You Like Me Now?!

Renowned country singer Toby Keith dies at 62 after battle with stomach cancer

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/06/enter...ath/index.html

The Spinners, originally the Domingoes, formed in 1954 in Detroit. Fambrough sang baritone with the group until retiring in April 2023. Among their hits are It's A Shame, I'll Be Around, Mighty Love, Games People Play, The Rubberband Man, One Of A Kind Love Affair, Could It Be I'm Falling In Love, Cupid/I've Loved You For A Long Time and Working My Way Back To You/Forgive Me Girl.

Henry Fambrough, the last surviving original member of the Spinners, dies at 85

https://www.npr.org/2024/02/08/12300...fambrough-dies

Mojo Nixon (real name: Neill Kirby McMillan Jr.) released five solo albums, three albums with the Toadliquors and six albums with Skid Roper (real name: Richard Banke). Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper are best known for Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two Headed Love Child, which reached #16 on Billboard's modern rock chart in May 1989.

Mojo Nixon, rock'n'roll wild man, Sirius XM radio host and former MTV mainstay, is dead at 66

https://www.ocregister.com/2024/02/0...is-dead-at-66/

Singer/guitarist Donald Kinsey recorded with Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Albert King, Betty Wright, Roy Buchanan, Burning Spear, the Wailers and others. In 1984, Kinsey, his brothers Ralph and Kenneth and their friend Ron Prince formed The Kinsey Report. They released six albums. Among their best-known songs are Bad Situation, Time Is Running Out, One Step Back, Corner Of The Blanket and Full Moon On Main Street.

Blues legend Donald Kinsey dies at 70

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...nsey-has-died/

Ozawa led the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1973 to 2002 and previously led orchestras in Tokyo, Chicago, Toronto and San Francisco. He (and his orchestras) released more than 200 albums.

Renowned conductor Seiji Ozawa, former maestro of Boston Symphony Orchestra, dies at 88 in Tokyo

https://hoodline.com/2024/02/renowne...t-88-in-tokyo/

Edwards was a news anchor for Mutual Broadcasting System for two years before joining NPR in 1974. He hosted Morning Edition from its inception in November 1979 through April 2004.

Bob Edwards, longtime host of NPR’s Morning Edition, dies at 76

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/12/busin...ath/index.html

D'Amato, best known for playing Tim "Dr. Hook" McCracken in the 1977 Paul Newman film Slap Shot, appeared in 15 other movies including F/X, Firepower, Suspect, Heaven's Gate and The Deer Hunter.

Slap Shot legend Paul D'Amato dead at 75

https://rare.us/rare-news/slap-shot-...to-dead-at-75/